Child sexual exploitation

[Pages:23]Child sexual exploitation

Definition and a guide for practitioners, local leaders and decision makers working to protect children from child sexual exploitation

February 2017

Contents

Introduction

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Section A ? advice for all practitioners who work with children

5

What is child sexual exploitation?

5

Potential indicators of child sexual exploitation

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How are children sexually exploited?

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How does child sexual exploitation affect children?

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How to respond: working with young people

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What does the particular nature of exploitation mean for practice?

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Section B ? advice for managers and strategic leaders

15

The child sexual exploitation context

16

Prevention

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Educating practitioners

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Educating children and young people

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Educating parents and carers

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Educating communities

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Introduction

Child sexual exploitation is a crime with devastating and long lasting consequences for its victims and their families. Childhoods and family life can be ruined and this is compounded when victims, or those at risk of abuse, do not receive appropriate, immediate and on-going support. The first response to children, and support for them to access help, must be the best it can be from social workers, police, health practitioners and others who work with children and their families.

In Putting Children First (July 2016) the Government set out its ambitions to support vulnerable children to lead safe and positive lives, to become successful adults and to have the kind of happy childhood that we want for all our children. We want children and families to have confidence in turning to practitioners for help and protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation. This help and protection should be provided in a timely, enduring and flexible manner, and be the best it can possibly be. This requires children, parents and carers affected by child sexual exploitation to feel part of the solution and confident they will be believed. Practitioners should work together to reduce the immediate risk of harm to children and collaborate to develop long term strategies to improve children's life chances.

This applies as much to child sexual exploitation as to other forms of abuse or neglect. The hidden nature of child sexual exploitation and the complexities involved means professional curiosity, and always being alert to the issue, is vital.

About this advice

This advice is non-statutory, and has been produced to help practitioners, local leaders and decision makers who work with children and families to identify child sexual exploitation and take appropriate action in response. This includes the management, disruption and prosecution of perpetrators.

This advice replaces the 2009 guidance Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation. It should be read alongside Working Together to Safeguard Children (most recent updates available on gov.uk) which continues to provide statutory guidance covering the legislative requirements on services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, including in relation to child sexual exploitation.

A child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. Throughout this advice the terms `child' and `children' are used to refer to all those under the age of 18.

Who is this advice for?

This advice is intended to help all those working with children, and their parents and carers, to understand child sexual exploitation and what action should be taken to identify

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and support victims. The online annexes to this document set out work to tackle perpetrators, another critical element of an holistic response. Section A is for everyone whose work brings them into contact with children and families, including those who work in early years, children's social care, health, education (including schools), the police, adult services and youth offending teams. This section sets out first the background to the nature of child sexual exploitation, followed by a series of guiding principles. It is relevant to those working in the statutory, voluntary or the independent sectors, and applies in relation to all children and young people irrespective of whether they are living at home with their families and carers or away from home. Section B is for those in strategic and management roles who are planning responses to child sexual exploitation within local authorities and other agencies working in partnership. It is relevant for Local Safeguarding Children Boards and any new arrangements required in legislation. However, all practitioners may find this information useful to support effective front-line practice on child sexual exploitation. This advice is not intended to be a `step by step' approach to addressing child sexual exploitation. It sets out the definition of child sexual exploitation; highlights potential vulnerabilities and indicators of abuse; and sets out appropriate action to take in response, using professional judgment and curiosity. Although it focuses on child sexual exploitation, the principles outlined here are those set out in Working Together covering all forms of exploitation, abuse and vulnerability in childhood and adolescence. The signs of abuse rarely present in clear, unequivocal ways (The Munro Review of Child Protection, 2011). What is important is that those working with children and families understand the totality of a child's experience in order to assess the nature and level of risk faced by children and respond swiftly and proportionately.

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Section A ? advice for all practitioners who work with children

What is child sexual exploitation?

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. Sexual abuse may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or nonpenetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside clothing. It may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in the production of sexual images, forcing children to look at sexual images or watch sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet).

The definition of child sexual exploitation is as follows:

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.

Like all forms of child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation:

? can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years, including 16 and 17 year olds who can legally consent to have sex;

? can still be abuse even if the sexual activity appears consensual; ? can include both contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) and non-contact

sexual activity; ? can take place in person or via technology, or a combination of both; ? can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and may, or

may not, be accompanied by violence or threats of violence; ? may occur without the child or young person's immediate knowledge (through

others copying videos or images they have created and posting on social media, for example); ? can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and children or adults. The abuse can be a one-off occurrence or a series of incidents over time, and range from opportunistic to complex organised abuse; and ? is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the abuse. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, sexual identity, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.

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Child sexual exploitation is a complex form of abuse and it can be difficult for those working with children to identify and assess. The indicators for child sexual exploitation can sometimes be mistaken for `normal adolescent behaviours'. It requires knowledge, skills, professional curiosity and an assessment which analyses the risk factors and personal circumstances of individual children to ensure that the signs and symptoms are interpreted correctly and appropriate support is given. Even where a young person is old enough to legally consent to sexual activity, the law states that consent is only valid where they make a choice and have the freedom and capacity to make that choice. If a child feels they have no other meaningful choice, are under the influence of harmful substances or fearful of what might happen if they don't comply (all of which are common features in cases of child sexual exploitation) consent cannot legally be given whatever the age of the child.

Child sexual exploitation is never the victim's fault, even if there is some form of exchange: all children and young people under the age of 18 have a right to be safe and should be protected from harm.

One of the key factors found in most cases of child sexual exploitation is the presence of some form of exchange (sexual activity in return for something); for the victim and/or perpetrator or facilitator.

Where it is the victim who is offered, promised or given something they need or want, the exchange can include both tangible (such as money, drugs or alcohol) and intangible rewards (such as status, protection or perceived receipt of love or affection). It is critical to remember the unequal power dynamic within which this exchange occurs and to remember that the receipt of something by a child/young person does not make them any less of a victim. It is also important to note that the prevention of something negative can also fulfil the requirement for exchange, for example a child who engages in sexual activity to stop someone carrying out a threat to harm his/her family.

Whilst there can be gifts or treats involved in other forms of sexual abuse (e.g a father who sexually abuses but also buys the child toys) it is most likely referred to as child sexual exploitation if the `exchange', as the core dynamic at play, results in financial gain for or enhanced status of, the perpetrator.

Where the gain is only for the perpetrator/facilitator, there is most likely a financial gain (money, discharge of a debt or free/discounted goods or services) or increased status as a result of the abuse.

If sexual gratification, or exercise of power and control, is the only gain for the perpetrator (and there is no gain for the child/young person) this would not normally constitute child sexual exploitation, but should be responded to as a different form of child sexual abuse.

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How common is child sexual exploitation?

The signs and indicators of all forms of abuse can be difficult to detect and child sexual exploitation is no exception. A variety of factors can make it difficult to accurately assess how prevalent child sexual exploitation is. Many children who are sexually exploited may have been victims of other forms of abuse; the grooming methods that may be used can mean that children who are sexually exploited do not always recognise they are being abused, which can also affect detection rates. What is clear is that child sexual exploitation can occur in all communities and amongst all social groups and can affect girls and boys. All practitioners should work on the basis that it is happening in their area.

Who is vulnerable to child sexual exploitation?

Any child, in any community: Child sexual exploitation is occurring across the country but is often hidden so prevalence data is hard to ascertain. However, areas proactively looking for child sexual exploitation are uncovering a problem. All practitioners should be open to the possibility that the children they work with might be affected.

Age: Children aged 12-15 years of age are most at risk of child sexual exploitation although victims as young as 8 have been identified, particularly in relation to online concerns. Equally, those aged 16 or above can also experience child sexual exploitation, and it is important that such abuse is not overlooked due to assumed capacity to consent. Account should be taken of heightened risks amongst this age group, particularly those without adequate economic or systemic support.

Gender: Though child sexual exploitation may be most frequently observed amongst young females, boys are also at risk. Practitioners should be alert to the fact that boys may be less likely than females to disclose experiences of child sexual exploitation and less likely to have these identified by others.

Ethnicity: Child sexual exploitation affects all ethnic groups.

Heightened vulnerability factors: Working Together makes clear the requirements for holistic assessment. Sexual exploitation is often linked to other issues in the life of a child or young person, or in the wider community context. Practitioners should be alert to the fact that child sexual exploitation is complex and rarely presents in isolation of other needs and risks of harm (although this may not always be the case, particularly in relation to online abuse). Child sexual exploitation may be linked to other crimes and practitioners should be mindful that a child who may present as being involved in criminal activity is actually being exploited.

Practitioners should not rely on `checklists' alone but should make a holistic assessment of vulnerability, examining risk and protective factors as set out in the statutory guidance Working Together.

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Sexual exploitation can have links to other types of crime. These include:

? Child trafficking; ? Domestic abuse; ? Sexual violence in intimate relationships; ? Grooming (including online grooming); ? Abusive images of children and their distribution; ? Drugs-related offences; ? Gang-related activity; ? Immigration-related offences; and ? Domestic servitude.

The following vulnerabilities are examples of the types of things children can experience that might make them more susceptible to child sexual exploitation:

? Having a prior experience of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse; ? Lack of a safe/stable home environment, now or in the past (domestic violence or

parental substance misuse, mental health issues or criminality, for example); ? Recent bereavement or loss; ? Social isolation or social difficulties; ? Absence of a safe environment to explore sexuality; ? Economic vulnerability; ? Homelessness or insecure accommodation status; ? Connections with other children and young people who are being sexually

exploited; ? Family members or other connections involved in adult sex work; ? Having a physical or learning disability; ? Being in care (particularly those in residential care and those with interrupted care

histories); and ? Sexual identity.

Not all children and young people with these vulnerabilities will experience child sexual exploitation. Child sexual exploitation can also occur without any of these vulnerabilities being present.

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